(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Weeks ago, radio and television host Glenn Beck has been the subject of an unfortunately named domain, glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com, which the site operator said is a parody of Beck’s insinuation tactics. Now his lawyers have argued that because the joke behind the website is so not obvious, that the domain name is particularly misleading.
Beck has been known to accuse President Barack Obama of being a racist, and asking why doesn’t he deny these allegations. When the individual who registered glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com, Florida resident Isaac Eiland-Hall, used this tactic was used on Beck, however, he didn’t take the joke lightly.
According to a supplementary filing from Beck’s representation, “While there is absolutely nothing humorous or amusing about the statement made by Respondent in his domain name that ‘Glenn Beck Raped and Murdered a Young Girl in 1990,’ the average Internet user finding the domain name GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlin1990.com (“Disputed Domain Name”) in a search would have no reason not to believe that they well be directed to a website providing factual information (as opposed to protected criticism or similar protected speech) about Mr. Beck.”
Supporters of the parody website, however, contend that the site is no more misleading than other online inside jokes. “An average Internet user might not ‘get the joke,’” wrote Eiland-Hall’s attorney, Marc J. Randazza. “In fact, the average Internet user does not understand any internet memes. That’s the fun of a meme – it is an esoteric inside joke that will leave most people scratching their heads.”
The rumour that Glenn Beck had raped and murdered a young girl in 1990 started on Fark.com forums and quickly spread to dozens of blogs before a Fark reader took the meme to a new level, registering the accusatory domain and launching the satirical website, which challenges Beck to deny the allegations.
“We’re not accusing Glenn Beck of raping and murdering a young girl in 1990 – in fact, we think he didn’t!”, parodies GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlin1990.com. “But we can’t help but wonder, since he has failed to deny these horrible allegations. Why won’t he deny that he raped and killed a young girl in 1990?”
While satire is a healthy part of public discourse, the inelegant glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com domain may cause problems for the individual who registered the domain and perhaps the registrar itself, ENOM (www.enom.com).
